


The Blaine and Kurt Collection

by ShowMeAHero



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-11-30
Updated: 2012-04-30
Packaged: 2017-11-21 15:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/599293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShowMeAHero/pseuds/ShowMeAHero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one-shots featuring Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Are Perfect To Me

Kurt was so frustrated, so angry, that he was driven to the point of embarrassing tears. He didn't want to let his stepbrother Finn or Rachel see the stupid traitorous tears, he only needed Blaine. Blaine, the best thing to happen to his life (yes, that's including the never-ending ways a sweater can be worn), would know how to fix this. He could always fix everything.

And so it was with watery eyes and a red face that Kurt told Finn and Rachel that he needed to find Blaine, left their surprised expressions behind, and rushed out to the parking lot. They had twenty minutes before they had to go to the New Directions meeting, and he really needed to be alone with Blaine for those twenty minutes.

Trying to ignore his blurred vision and wet cheeks, Kurt tugged his key chain out of his bag and fumbled for the car key. Finally finding it, he jammed it into the driver's side lock and unlocked his car, climbing inside hastily. He promptly locked all the doors and slumped down in his seat.

He fished his phone out of his pocket, smiling a little at his background (Blaine asleep in Kurt's bed, one of Kurt's favorite pictures of him, taken the morning after their first time), and pushed number one on his speed dial. As usual, Blaine picked up on the first ring.

"Kurt? I just came to your locker, you're not-" Blaine began, but Kurt cut him off, just wanting to bring him (Blaine) to him (Kurt) as soon as possible.

"I know I'm not. Can you come to my car? Just for a little bit before glee?" Kurt's voice was small, as it usually was when he was upset, and there was a moment of silence on the other end before Kurt heard Blaine loudly scribbling something and a locker slamming shut. "What was that?"

"Just a reminder for later. I'll be right there, honey, don't worry. Are you still parked in the same spot as this morning?" Blaine asked. Kurt could tell from the way his breathing changed that he was hurrying. He wondered briefly if he was weird for knowing how his boyfriend breathes, but decided he wasn't.

"Yeah. I'll see you soon. I love you." Kurt said softly. Blaine's breathing changed slightly again; he was speeding up. Kurt smiled a little.

"I love you, Kurt. I'm almost there." There was a click as Blaine hung up the phone, and Kurt didn't even have time to put his phone away before Blaine was tapping at the window of the locked passenger door. Kurt reached over, pulled the knob up, unlocking it for him, and pushed the door open slightly. Blaine climbed in, locking the door again as soon as he was in.

"Kurt, what's wrong?" Blaine asked, taking in his boyfriend's tearful face. Kurt sobbed once and buried his face in Blaine's shoulder, stretched uncomfortably over the console. Blaine maneuvered him into the backseat, sitting cross-legged on the left while Kurt sprawled across the rest of the back, clinging to his lover.

"I told you I wanted to stuff the ballot boxes, maybe, but we talked about it and I decided not to, and I stuck to the decision, it was the right thing to do, I only voted once, but someone else stuffed the ballot boxes and they think it was me and I could get suspended and not sing at Regionals and not get into NYADA and I already lost at everything else but I didn't do this and they're saying it was me-" Kurt told the whole story in a rush through his tears, but when he started having difficultly speaking through the sobs, Blaine understandingly shushed him and hugged him close.

Kurt felt like if anyone else saw this, if anyone else were with him, he'd be extremely embarrassed. These were tears of frustration and anger and injustice and loss and pent-up stress, but they'd seem irrational to other people. To Blaine, though, everything made sense. Blaine just understood.

"Shh, Kurt, it's okay. Just let it out." Blaine rubbed his back while murmuring things softly into his hair. Every now and then, he'd press a kiss to the top of his boyfriend's head, and Kurt's crying would slow down a little bit. Eventually, it was just hiccups. Blaine sat him up a little bit.

"Do you want me to tell the story normally?" Kurt asked quietly a few moments after he had calmed down, looking up at Blaine's face from where his head was resting on Blaine's shoulder.

His lover shook his head. "No, I heard everything you said before." Just another reason Kurt loves him. "Kurt, sweetie, if you didn't do it, you didn't do it. They won't have any evidence, because you didn't do it, so they won't be able to do anything."

Though Kurt was sure they'd be able to pin it on him without "evidence" (high school is not famous for it's fair trials), the complete confidence and reassurance in what Blaine said and the way he said it made him feel a whole lot better. He smiled and closed his eyes, pushing a little closer into his boyfriend.

Blaine kissed Kurt's forehead, leaving his lips there for a moment before pulling away to rest his own forehead against it. Nobody else ever got to touch Kurt's face or skin, because he feared they would mess it up, except for Blaine. Blaine was the exception; he even seemed to make Kurt's skin shine brighter, as though illuminated from the inside.

"Do you want to go for a drive before practice? I'll drive." Blaine offered. Kurt opened his eyes, finding Blaine still leaning there against him, eyes searching him as though memorizing his face. He smiled at Blaine and his ability to make Kurt feel wonderful.

"I'd love that." Kurt climbed carefully into the passenger seat, handing over the car keys to Blaine as his boyfriend joined him up front. Blaine buckled himself in (Kurt rolled his eyes, but put his own seatbelt on, as well), and started up the familiar car.

As they left the parking lot and drove aimlessly through random streets in Lima, Blaine would steal glances at Kurt, who always seemed to be looking out the window at the passing trees with their changing leaves. Kurt, however, was just watching Blaine and turning away every time Blaine tried to catch him.

Blaine started humming after only a couple of minutes. Kurt caught the tune, identifying it easily and smiling. He turned back to look at Blaine, letting his lover catch him looking this time.

"Really?" he laughed. Blaine grinned at him before turning back to the road.

"Really. It'll make you feel better. Plus, it's true, and I think you need to hear it." Blaine started humming again. Kurt laughed once more.

"Alright, alright." Kurt scooted closer to the console, leaning his head on Blaine's arm gently so as to not disturb his driving. "Made a wrong turn once or twice, dug my way out, blood and fire. Bad decisions, that's alright. Welcome to my silly life."

Blaine kept humming, adding a sweet melody to the words Kurt sang. Kurt almost wanted to stop because he thought he felt ridiculous, but he didn't really feel ridiculous. He just felt better.

"Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood, Miss "No way, it's all good". It didn't slow me down. Mistaken, always second guessing, underestimated. Look, I'm still around." Kurt paused then because Blaine's humming became a little erratic; he looked up to find a few tears streaking down his boyfriend's face. "Blaine?"

"Hearing you sing that part always gets me." Blaine told him, his voice almost a whisper. It cracked a couple of times while he spoke. "You're so strong. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't still around."

Kurt didn't know what to say, so he pushed himself up and kissed Blaine's cheek lightly. Blaine laughed, a strange mix between a laugh and a sob, and gave Kurt a quick kiss back.

"Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel like you're less than, less than perfect." They sang together, alone in a car, feeling every ounce of meaning in every word. "Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing, you are perfect to me."

They had sung this song so many times together, or to each other, that they knew how to do it perfectly. Kurt would sing first, and then Blaine would echo him.

"You're so mean,"

"You're so mean,"

"When you talk,"

"When you talk,"

"About yourself, you were wrong. Change the voices,"

"Change the voices,"

"In your head,"

"In your head,"

"Make them like you instead."

As wonderful as that sounded, both of them preferred singing together. "So complicated; look how big you'll make it. Filled with so much hatred, such a tired game. It's enough, I've done all I could think of, chased down all my demons. I've seen you do the same."

Kurt stopped for a breath, but Blaine continued, vocalizing the "Ohhhh ohhhhhh." Kurt joined back in, and they sang together once more. "Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel like you're less than, less than perfect. Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing, you are perfect."

Blaine sang the "rap" section mostly solo, because Kurt had conceded one day that he should not be allowed to rap. Instead, he just sang the ends of each line softly as Blaine sang out the rap. "The whole world's scared, so I swallow the fear. The only thing I should be drinking is an ice cold beer. So cool in line, and we try, try, try, but-"

Kurt decided to join in for this line, really feeling it hard. "We try too hard, and it's a waste of my time." After that one, he returned to his quiet background singing as each of Blaine's lines ended.

"Done looking for the critics, 'cause they're everywhere. They don't like my jeans, they don't get my hair. Exchange ourselves, and we do it all the time. Why do we do that?" Kurt stopped, but Blaine kept going, singing alone, "Why do I do that?"

Kurt paused and spoke instead of singing. "Why do I do that?"

Blaine shrugged. "Beats me, you're perfect just the way you are."

"That's not in the song." Kurt pointed out, tipping his head up slightly to look at Blaine, who just kept his eyes on the road and smiled.

"Would've been if she'd known you." was Blaine's response before he started singing again. "Yeah! Ohh ohhhh ohhhhhh."

Kurt chimed in, singing "I'm pretty, pretty, pretty." Blaine started singing while he did, singing "Pretty, pretty please," but Kurt joined in quickly. "Don't you ever, ever feel like you're less than, less than perfect. Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing, you are perfect to me."

"Yeah, you're perfect." Blaine's voice dropped as he sang this line alone. Kurt pushed himself a bit closer for his solo line.

"You're perfect to me." Kurt sang around the lump growing in his throat. Blaine seemed to have the same problem as he sang alone again.

"Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel," Blaine sang; Kurt could tell he was close to tears, so he finished the song with him.

"Like you're nothing. You are perfect to me." They finished together. Blaine had tears streaming steadily down his face, they acted as a catalyst for Kurt's tears, which started falling again, except they remained silent this time.

"You are perfect to me, Blaine." Kurt said quietly after a moment. His tears were soaking into Blaine's shirt, but he knew his boyfriend wouldn't mind. Blaine just nodded.

"You don't know how true that song is." Blaine's voice was a whisper now as he drove, the love of his life beside him. "I'm going to sing that to you when I ask you to marry me."

Kurt was caught off guard with that one; they always talked about going away to college together, going to New York and living together, and it was always assumed by both that they'd eventually get married. This was the first time one of them vocalized any kind of marriage idea. Kurt just turned his face and smiled into Blaine's sleeve.

"I would like that very much." Kurt told him, his words slightly muffled by Blaine's arm. The car stopped then, and Kurt looked up to discover that they had returned to the school.

"Time's up." Blaine sounded sad. Kurt understood exactly how he was feeling.

"Our time is never up." Kurt unbuckled himself so he could climb much closer to Blaine and give him what Kurt definitely believed to be one of the best kisses of their life.

"You are definitely right, Mr. Hummel." Blaine agreed into Kurt's mouth, kissing him back with equal strength and exceeding passion. Kurt, not one to be outdone, pushed himself closer, but Blaine pried him away.

"Tonight." Blaine told him after they'd caught their breath and Kurt was pouting. "I promise."

"I'm holding you to that promise." Kurt threatened, turning to the door, unlocking it and climbing out of the car. Blaine did the same while also turning the car off and locking it once they were both out.

Kurt and Blaine walked hand-in-hand back into the school building, heading for the choir room. Once they reached the doorway, Kurt made to enter first, but Blaine stopped him. With their friends and fellow glee clubbers watching, Blaine swept Kurt into his arms and carried him over the choir room's threshold. Finn rolled his eyes, but everyone else laughed, a couple people clapping.

Kurt blushed, uncharacteristically shy, as Blaine put him down. Blaine, laughing, gave his boyfriend a quick kiss as they went to sit down. As he sat, Kurt remembered why he had been upset; though there was still a knot of worry in the pit of his stomach, he felt much better now.

Without even turning, Kurt reached back and over to grab into Blaine's hand.

The next day, Kurt opened his locker to discover a piece of paper fluttering out of it. Upon unfolding the paper, he discovered it to be completely covered in Blaine's handwriting (clearly rushed though it was); the heading read "You're Perfect Because Of...", beneath reading things like "your eyes," "how your skin feels on mine," "how your face lights up when you see me," and so on.

Suddenly, the author in question was leaning against the neighboring locker. "There's way more where that came from."

"I love you, Blaine." Kurt stretched up and gave his boyfriend a kiss. Blaine returned it, humming a familiar tune happily in the back of this throat.


	2. Merry Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Blaine start their own traditions.

"Why do we have to cut down a tree?" Kurt shivered, wrapped up tightly in his coat and Blaine's, as he had been shivering uncontrollably and Blaine seemed to have a supernatural ability to keep himself warm. "Why can't we buy one?"

"Because it's our first Christmas in our own house without Rachel, and I'm starting a tradition." Blaine answered for at least the eighth time as he led Kurt through the woods that the Christmas tree company owned. Kurt had to admit, it wasn't exactly  _unappealing_ to watch Blaine trekking through the snow and trees holding an axe over his shoulder like a lumberjack. It made him laugh, sure, but it was also very ...  _nice_.

"A tradition? We're going to do this every year?" Kurt asked, pulling both coats closer around him. Blaine laughed and stopped walking, turning to face Kurt. He dropped the axe (seriously, who has an  _axe_  just lying around with which to chop down trees?) and pulled Kurt's hands out of his pockets. He rubbed them between his own, their gloves quickly creating friction and warming them both.

"We are going to do this every year. We will drag ourselves out to Vermont, damn the drive, pull into the Christmas tree lot conveniently located in the middle of nowhere, and hike out into the woods to get our own perfect tree." Blaine was smiling, his cheeks bright red and his breath curling up like smoke from a chimney in the cold air. "And we'll pick out the perfect tree, I'll bring the axe, chop it down myself, and drag it back to the car, and then we'll drive all the way back to New York with our perfect tree. And we'll pick it out for a few years, and then our kids can pick it out, and then  _their_ kids can pick it out, and the tradition will continue for generations of Andersons to come."

Kurt smiled at him, not minding the cold anymore, or the snow that had started to fall, wet and freezing, onto his face. "Is that what's going to happen?"

"That is exactly what's going to happen. And that's why we're doing this." Blaine gave him a kiss, rubbed his hands again, and returned to the axe. Kurt took the lead now, leaving Blaine to trail behind him curiously with his axe.

"What about this one?" Kurt pointed at a small tree. Blaine made a face at it, and Kurt acted offended. "What's wrong with this one?"

"It's not our perfect tree. You can tell." Blaine sounded as cryptic as a frickin' Egyptian hieroglyph, but Kurt just continued on, searching for a new tree.

"How about this? This one looks fantastic." Kurt stopped before a tall tree, playing with one of the branches. Blaine shook his head.

"That's not it, either." Blaine heaved his axe over his shoulder and began following Kurt again. This time, they both stopped at the same tree.

"This is it." they said in unison, both voices excited and filled with awe. They turned to each other, smiling, and Kurt quickly kissed Blaine before giving him a nudge towards the tree.

"Use the axe, Paul Bunyan, and cut down our perfect tree." Kurt laughed. Blaine grinned widely and started putting his strength to good use. The tree was down in no time, and Blaine was handing Kurt the axe (which Kurt discovered was  _much_  heavier than Blaine had made it look) so that he could drag the tree more easily, with both hands.

"Don't call me Paul Bunyan." Blaine warned a little bit later as they walked; the only other noises were their breathing and the crunch of snow under their boots.

"Trust me, you're much more attractive than Paul Bunyan." Kurt laughed, bumping Blaine with his hip and jogging up ahead of him. Blaine, smiling, hurried to catch up.

* * *

Several hours later, the couple stood in front of their sparsely decorate tree, examining it.

"This tree looks so bare." Kurt commented, hands on his hips as he looked the tree over. His and Blaine's ornaments were scattered throughout the limbs. "Did Rachel really have that many ornaments?"

"I guess so." Blaine stood beside his fiancée, sipping eggnog. "We'll get more as years go on, don't worry."

"I'm not worrying." Kurt lied. He took a step forward and moved one of the ornaments; it really didn't help. Kurt frowned in frustration. "I'm just saying."

"Do you want to open a gift early?" Blaine asked suddenly. Kurt turned around, raising an eyebrow.

"It's still over two weeks until Christmas, though." Kurt really didn't know why he was fighting this; he'd love to open a gift early. Blaine smiled at him, knowing this very well.

"I don't see why you can't open this one early." Blaine handed Kurt his glass and got down on his hands and knees under the tree, grabbing a small cube wrapped in snowflake wrapping paper. Kurt grinned, taking a sip out of the glass while he waited. Blaine emerged then, standing up straight and exchanging his glass for the present. Kurt looked down at it, hesitating for a moment. Blaine sighed.

"Just open it, Kurt." Blaine reached out and ripped one of the folds. "See, now you can't preserve the paper anyways."

"But it's our first-" Kurt began, but Blaine cut him off.

"Yes, our first Christmas present opened in our first house together alone." Blaine tugged a little more, making the rip a little longer. "We'll remember it. I promise."

Kurt smiled slightly and helped Blaine tug the wrapping paper off; it was anticlimatic when he was presented with a completely white box that had his name written on top in Blaine's handwriting. He opened the cardboard lid and gasped dramatically. Blaine grinned.

"Blaine, it's perfect. Where did you find this?" Kurt pulled the heavy ornament out of it's box; it was the best gift he'd felt that he'd ever received. Three music notes hung together, one reading "Kurt", one reading "Blaine", and one reading "2015" engraved on them. The box still felt heavy; he looked up at Blaine curiously.

"There's one more." Blaine set his glass down on the low coffee table and stepped closer to Kurt, pulling out a second heavy ornament. This one was just one music note, but it said "The Andersons 2016". Kurt smiled, and a couple of tears rolled down his face.

"That's perfect." Kurt leaned forward and kissed Blaine passionately. Blaine broke the kiss eventually, handing the second ornament to Kurt and taking the box.

"We'll be married a year from today, you know." Blaine reminded his fiancée. Kurt grinned wider.

"I know. I love you so much." Kurt turned away slightly and hung the two ornaments side-by-side.

"I love you, too, the future Mr. Anderson." Even Blaine's voice sounded like he was smiling as he replied and turned to looked at the ornaments. Kurt took his hand without even thinking about it as they looked the tree over.

"You know, I think the tree looks a lot better now." Kurt commented. Blaine squeezed his hand.

"I agree." Blaine pulled Kurt closer so that the shorter was leaning against the taller. "Much better."

"Merry Christmas, Blaine." Kurt nuzzled his head into Blaine's neck, shutting his eyes happily. Blaine kissed the top of his head and continued looking over the tree.

"Merry Christmas, Kurt."


	3. Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine has an unprecedented panic attack, and Kurt has no idea what to do.

Kurt was lost in thought as he and Blaine walked down the hallway; it was because of this that he stumbled and shot his hand out to grab his boyfriend. Blaine, for some reason, automatically flinched at the hand that flew towards him and tripped backwards, both of them falling to the ground. Kurt got up first, confused.

He reached his hand out to Blaine to help him up; Blaine was staring at him blankly, like he wasn't really seeing him. All of a sudden, he shouted, lashing out in Kurt's general direction. By now, a large crowd had gathered, watching the panicking man with curiousity. Kurt kneeled down and tried to grab Blaine's flailing hand; he was terrified of what was happening, it never had happened before, but it was his first instinct to stop it before freaking out about it.

Kurt grabbed Blaine's face in both of his hands, causing Blaine to stop flailing. He was sweating heavily, panting, his eyes attempting desperately to focus on Kurt.

"Blaine, calm down, stop it. Blaine, you're okay, really, you just fell. I'm right here, Blaine." Kurt was trying to keep his voice down so the people around wouldn't here him. Suddenly, he heard shouting, and a couple of people were fighting their way through the crowd. Kurt looked up and was instantly relieved to see his stepbrother Finn and Mr. Schuester hurrying over to them.

"What's happening, Kurt?" Will asked, trying to put Blaine on his feet. Blaine started to panic again, attempting to push away the teacher. Kurt could feel tears pouring down his face; his brain had decided it was okay to freak out now that there was someone else to help him handle this situation.

"I tripped, and tried to grab him, but he freaked out and tripped and then this happened and  _I don't know what's going on!_ " Kurt sounded hysterical; he wouldn't get up off the floor, still kneeling beside Blaine, who had stopped struggling again and was just staring at Will, his eyes focused now.

"What's going on?" Blaine asked. He heard Kurt's sobbing and turned to him, his confused expression automatically snapping into one of concern. He pulled away from Will quickly and wrapped his arms around Kurt, shushing him. The crowd was murmuring, confused and a little frightened. Finn was just standing above them, not sure what to do. The two students and their teacher still sat on the linoleum.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked through his tears; Blaine looked absolutely bewildered.

"Of course I'm okay, you're the one who's crying." Blaine was rubbing his boyfriend's back, pressing his lips to Kurt's temple. "It's okay, Kurt."

"It's not okay, do you not remember what just happened?" Kurt's voice was rising; Finn was still staring, but Will was attempting to quiet Kurt down.

"I don't-" Blaine began, but then his face completely dropped all emotion. He turned away from Kurt, meeting Will's eyes. "It happened, didn't it?"

"What happened?" Will asked, brow furrowing in confusion. Blaine growled in frustration, throwing his hands in the air away from Kurt and standing up. He pushed Will away when he tried to grab onto Blaine's upper arm.

"My father...I...I-I have to go. I can't..." Blaine wasn't finishing sentences or really making sense, and he helped Kurt to his feet quickly before leaving in a hurry. Finn blinked and looked around at the crowd, still speaking, just louder and more obnoxiously. Finn frowned, starting to push the crowd away and make it disperse. Will put a hand on a very distressed-looking Kurt's shoulder.

"Do you know what that was?" Will asked quietly. Kurt quickly shook his head.

"That's never happened before." Kurt answered, his voice soft and breaking with the steady tears. "I'm going to go after him."

"Should you be alone with him right now? What if he-" Finn interjected, as he had gotten most of the onlookers away.

"If it happens again, I can deal." Kurt interrupted. He fixed Finn with a look that he hoped his stepbrother would understand. "He needs me."

"We'll be right here if you need us, Kurt." Will answered, letting go of Kurt's shoulder. Kurt nodded his thanks and hurried off after Blaine.

* * *

Kurt found Blaine standing over the sink in the men's bathroom on the first floor, where people barely went. He was breathing heavily, his face beat red as he cupped water from the faucet in his hands and splashed it onto his face.

"Blaine?" Kurt moved slowly, holding his hands out like he was approaching a wild animal. "Are you okay?"

"Please don't do that." Blaine gripped the sides of the sink so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Please don't act like I'm dangerous."

"I just want to make sure you're okay. I know you're not dangerous." Kurt took another step closer. He wrinkled his nose. "What happened?"

Blaine shut his eyes, sighing heavily. "I threw up."

"Oh, sweetie." Kurt took the last few steps to his boyfriend, not wanting to touch him, just in case. He just stood awkwardly beside the sink. "What happened?"

"My father was abusive." Blaine confessed in a rush, shutting his eyes tighter. "He used to hit me ... and stuff ... a lot. He got help about a year ago, right around when we met for the first time, but he lapses sometimes. And sometimes I just react instinctively to protect myself." Blaine kept his eyes shut while he spoke, but when he finished, he opened them and turned to look at Kurt. Glasz eyes and hazel eyes met for a moment.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kurt said finally, after a prolonged moment of silence. Blaine looked back down into the basin.

"It didn't seem necessary. It only happens every once and a while now, and all the rest was in the past." Blaine told the cheap white porcelain. Kurt stepped closer, ducking under Blaine's arm and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist in an effort to comfort him.

"Does that happen a lot? That ... that panicking thing?" Kurt asked softly. Blaine wrapped his own arms around his boyfriend, still not looking down into his eyes.

"Not with anyone else, not usually. It usually only happens with my father." Blaine buried his head in Kurt's shoulder, turning so his face was pressed into his boyfriend's neck. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Kurt kissed the only part of Blaine's face that he could reach. "Do you want to talk to someone about this?"

"Not right now. I just want to stay with you." Blaine mumbled into Kurt's skin. He tightened his grip; Kurt tightened his in return, holding Blaine close, wanting to protect Blaine just like Blaine so often protected him.

"It'll be okay. I'll take care of you." Kurt promised softly. "We'll get through this together."

"I love you." Blaine whispered, pulling away slightly and standing up straighter. "Do we have to go back to class?"

Kurt shook his head. "I'm sure Mr. Schue could explain it to our other teachers if we were to go home."

"Thank you." Blaine pulled his teary red face away from Kurt and gave him a watery smile.

"You are welcome." Kurt took Blaine's hand and led him out of the bathroom to face the world together.


	4. I Will Protect Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine accidentally hits Kurt when Kurt sneaks up on him, and Finn, assuming the worst, takes matters into his own hands.

Blaine was angry. He was furious with himself for getting in an argument with Kurt in the first place, but especially for something as stupid and trivial as carrying his things for him. He had gotten irrationally upset, shouting at his stunned boyfriend before storming away.

Yes, Blaine knew that he had been an asshole, but he really wasn't usually like this, honest. He had been having a rough week - though he knew that was no excuse for yelling at Kurt - and he felt hurt by Kurt refusing to let Blaine carry his books. After he had stormed off, he had head straight for the gym to work off the emotion.

He tore off his clothes as soon as he got into the locker room, changing into the old sweats he kept in an empty locker. He strapped on his gloves and immediately began beating on the punching bag, tears quickly mixing with drops of sweat and falling off of his face and body. His imagination running away with him, pretending the bag was him and he was teaching himself a lesson, like his father did to him.

"Blaine?" a soft voice asked from behind him. Blaine, in all of his anger, whipped around, his fist colliding with something that exclaimed and stumbled backwards. He blinked and dropped his arms, trying to focus through the haze in his mind for what was there. Kurt was standing there, his eyes red, clutching his face.

"Oh my god, Kurt, I am so sorry!" Blaine tore his gloves off and took Kurt's face in his hands, pulling Kurt's hands away from his face. Kurt's nose was bleeding slightly, and Blaine's tears kept falling. Kurt looked bewildered.

"Why did you hit me?" Kurt asked with confusion, his brow furrowing as Blaine's hands fumbled around his face.

"I didn't mean to, I  _swear_ , you just surprised me, not that that's any excuse, but I just, I'm so sorry-" Blaine was babbling, panicking, and Kurt just put his hand against Blaine's moving lips.

"I understand." Kurt said quietly. He wasn't smiling, nor were his eyes happy, and Blaine frowned; the tears were still streaming steadily down with no rhyme or reason, falling just because they believed they had reason to. Blaine was almost embarrassed by them.

"I'm so sorry for earlier, too, Kurt. I've really been having a rough week. I know that's not an excuse for me to yell at you, but I just felt like you didn't need me, or didn't want me around." Blaine paused for a moment. "That's completely irrational."

"It is, but I forgive you, because you really are sorry." Kurt leaned in and pressed his lips to Blaine's. Blaine smiled slightly before he tasted Kurt's blood.

"We really should take care of that." Blaine told his boyfriend a moment later, after he'd pulled away. He checked Kurt's nose again; the bleeding had slowed, but his skin on his nose and around his eyes was turning black and blue. He bit his lip as his heart skipped with fear. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to do this to you. You can hit me, if you want."

Kurt started to say no, but then a smile crept across his face. "Really?"

"Really." Blaine was a little worried about the grin appearing on his boyfriend's face, but it also made him feel better to see Kurt smiling. "Go for it."

Kurt stepped back slightly and pulled his fist back, seeming to know exactly what he was going to do. He let his fist come forward and punched Blaine right in the stomach. Blaine's breath came out with the punch and with a laugh; Kurt started laughing, too.

"I always just wanted to see if that would work, since you're so muscular." Kurt bit his lip, just as Blaine had done earlier. "Just wanted to see."

"It works." Blaine told him breathlessly, grinning from ear to ear. Kurt grinned back at him and gave him a kiss.

"Sorry." Kurt laughed softly. Blaine just smiled at him.

"No, you're not." Blaine countered, and Kurt shrugged.

"Maybe I'm not." Kurt moved away from Blaine to look in the locker room's mirror. He frowned at his reflection before looking at Blaine's reflection. "I look hideous. This is all your fault."

"You look gorgeous. And tough." Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist from behind, pressing his lips to Kurt's temple before resting his chin on his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Are you saying I wasn't tough?" Kurt asked, a smile playing on his lips as he wiped the last of the blood off, leaving his face clean. Blaine laughed again.

"That is a bit of what I'm saying, yes." Blaine answered. "I'm still really, really sorry. But, hey, it'll be a funny story to tell our-"

"Kurt?" Finn's familiar voice floated into the locker room behind them. "Blaine? Are you guys okay? I heard that you got into an argument."

Blaine let go of Kurt, who sighed and turned around to face his brother. Finn's face automatically changed, his brow crumping in confusion and concern at the injuries on Kurt's face.

"What happened?" Finn asked, taking another step forward awkwardly. He didn't know what to do, if a bully had done this or something. Blaine seemed too calm for this to be the work of a bully, but he also looked...guilty. Something clicked in Finn's head. "Did Blaine-"

"He didn't mean to. I accidentally surprised him when he was beating on the punching bag." Kurt rushed to defend Blaine, but Finn didn't seem to be having any of it when he took a couple more steps forward so he was standing directly in front of the shorter man.

"Blaine hit you?" Finn asked; his voice had dropped, quiet and menacing. Blaine's eyes were huge, and Kurt began looking panicky.

"He didn't mean to, Finn, he really didn't!" Kurt exclaimed, taking a nervous step towards the two. Finn held his arm up and kept Kurt back.

"But he hit you." Finn's face was turning slightly red; Blaine attempted to take a step back, but he was nearly against the mirror, so he stayed in place. He wanted to defend himself, but he half-believed that Finn wasn't going to do anything, so his hands just hovered halfway between his waist and his face.

"Well, yes, but he didn't-" Kurt began, but he was cut off by Finn snapping his fist forward into Blaine's face. Kurt screamed as something snapped and Blaine's head whipped backwards, crashing into the mirror and cracked the glass. Blaine immediately crumpled to the ground; Finn stood over him, breathing heavily. Kurt screamed again when Blaine hit the floor, his hands flying to his face.

"What did you do?" Kurt shrieked, falling to the ground and hefting Blaine's head into his lap. "He's-he's not-he didn't mean to hit me, Finn! It was an accident! But you-but you-" Kurt found he couldn't speak anymore, tears falling heavily, his throat thick.

"He hit my brother." Finn's voice was soft, quiet, no longer menacing. Kurt's breathing was fast, he was still unable to speak, so he just looked up at Finn with hurt and something close to fear. No, not close; it  _was_  fear. Kurt was afraid of Finn, and who could blame him, looking at this scene.

Finn's eyes left the glasz eyes of his brother to look up at the crack in the mirror where Blaine's head had smashed into it. A couple small pieces had fallen from where his skull had made contact, a dozen tiny cracks filling that space while more long cracks spread away from it. Finn dropped his searching gaze to the blank face of the man he'd hit. His eyes were closed, his nose askew, his skin dark with blood. Finn frowned.

"I'm..." Finn couldn't bring himself to apologize. He was in a haze; it still seemed like the right thing to do, it seemed just fine to hurt the person who'd hurt his brother, no matter how unintentional it might have been. He had to protect him. That was his job.

"Please get help." Kurt's voice was small and choked; while Finn had been distracted by looking, Kurt had turned his attention back to Blaine and was trying to wake him up. "Get a nurse, Ms. Pillsbury, Mr. Schue, even Puck if you have to. Just get  _somebody_."

Finn nodded dumbly and turned, leaving the locker room with a Frankenstein-like walk and a bloodied hand. Kurt didn't bother to watch him go; he had boiling anger that he didn't quite know where to put with everything else he was feeling, so he shoved it aside and focused on Blaine.

"Blaine, please wake up." Kurt's tears were dripping onto Blaine's face, clearing out small circular spots in the blood. Kurt's sobs echoed strangely with the acoustics of the locker room. "Blaine, please."

Kurt had never been this terrified. With his mother, he'd never had a chance to be; his dad had come to school one day and taken him home to explain that he had lost his mother. He had never had a chance to be terrified for her, only horribly sad and heartbreakingly lonely, and he didn't know what to do now. Blaine's face was so blank, so empty. Kurt pulled his hands away from Blaine's head; the hand that he had placed underneath Blaine's head was dark and covered with blood, moreso than the one he had had resting on his face. He quickly tore his own jacket off and pressed it to the source of the blood flow at the back of Blaine's skull.

Kurt bent himself down, pulling Blaine up in his arms so their foreheads pressed together; Blaine sagged limply in his arms, and blood transferred itself from Blaine's face to Kurt's. He just held his boyfriend - his lover, his future, his  _everything_  - and sobbed brokenly. He didn't know what he'd done to deserve this.

* * *

Blaine could feel the blackness like a thick blanket of heat, wrapping him in a heavy cocoon he had no hope of breaking free of. It was completely silent here, utterly dark, like purgatory. There was absolutely nothing here except for Blaine's being, and he was strangely unafraid. It seemed so welcoming, this place where he was trapped in his own mind.

He didn't know how long he floated around in this emptiness; it could've been a few seconds or a few years for all he knew, but soon there was a tinge of red coming into the blackness. With the red came a faint noise, which Blaine vaguely identified as panicked talking. Raised voices soon came into his consciousness, growing clearer and clearer with each passing moment until he could identify the words and who they belonged to.

When Blaine heard Kurt's voice, he started struggling against the blackness that he decided was too suffocating, now that it was keeping him from a very frightened-sounding Kurt. He fought as hard as he could until colour started coming back and he could make out fuzzy shapes moving around above him. Kurt's voice had risen to a high pitch, and he could make out a shape that reminded him of his boyfriend. He focused as hard as he could, and soon his eyes were clear again.

He instantly regretted leaving the happy blankness of his unconsciousness when he felt the worst pain he'd ever felt before shoot through his skull and down into his body. He groaned out loud, and Kurt returned to his immediate vision, his face stained with tears.

"Blaine? Blaine, are you awake?" Kurt was peering at him anxiously. Blaine frowned, sending a small wave of pain through his head.

"Yeah." Blaine thought his voice sounded raspy and low; he cleared his throat. "Are you okay?"

Kurt laughed humourlessly; there wasn't even a hint of a smile on his face. "I'm just fine."

Blaine looked Kurt over protectively; he seemed to be in better shape than Blaine remembered. His nose was returning to normal colours, though not completely there yet, as was the skin around his eyes. Blaine furrowed his brow, and felt pain again; he made a mental note to minimalize the amount of moving he did, particularly when it came to his head.

"You look better than I remember." Blaine commented. "The nose, I mean."

Kurt smiled; again, there was no humour. "I had time to heal. I wish I could say the same about you."

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked curiously. Kurt hesitated, subconsciously darting his eyes to something beside Blaine and back. Blaine then, for the first time, took in what was around him besides Kurt. He recognized the room as a room in a hospital; sterile white walls encased them, with typical furniture pressed flush against them. He recognized his mother asleep on a sofa, leaning against Mr. Schuester, who was awake and sitting beside an also awake Ms. Pillsbury, both trying not to look like they were listening. Finn sat in a chair in the very corner, his hands joined, his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor; Burt and Carole were asleep on the couch on the opposite wall. Kurt had clearly dragged a chair beside the bed that Blaine realized he was lying in.

Blaine turned his head slightly, gritting his teeth against the pain, to look at what Kurt had looked at; he was surprised to find several machines there that all seemed to connect to him. He turned back to Kurt.

"What happened?" Blaine asked, his voice still rasping. Kurt sat down on the very edge of the bed, trying not to disturb Blaine's body, and took his hand gingerly before launching into what had happened. His voice was low and broke a few times, and soon he got to the part where Blaine stopped remembering anything.

"Finn came back with Mercedes, since she was the first person he could find, and we brought you to Mr. Schue, who called an ambulance." Kurt cast his eyes downward, almost afraid to meet Blaine's hazel eyes. "That was four days ago."

"Four?" Blaine was shocked. He'd spent four entire days in that nothingness, just because he fractured his skull on a friggin' mirror?

"I'm so sorry." Kurt apologized in a whisper, his eyes filling up with tears again. Blaine squeezed his hand.

"I'm sorry you had to go through this, Kurt." Blaine told him softly. Kurt let out one sob before pressing his free hand to his mouth. Everyone had awoken now, including his mother, who was slowly breaking into consciousness.

"Mom?" Blaine asked cautiously before giving Kurt a chance to respond. He wasn't sure his mother was fully awake, but hearing his voice was like an electric jolt through her. She was off of the couch and beside Blaine in absolutely no time at all.

"Oh my god, Blaine." were the only words Blaine heard from his tearful mother before she embraced him. Ignoring any pain he felt, he let go of Kurt's hand and brought his arms around his mother, trying not to pull out any tubes. She was sobbing into his shoulder, hugging him tightly to her while simultaneously warning him never to scare her like that again.

After a few minutes, she had calmed down somewhat and pulled away, though she still sat on the bed, pressed against him, clinging to one of his hands. Blaine realized something then; his father wasn't there. Not that it was a surprise.

"I suppose I don't have to ask where Dad is." Blaine's voice was uncharacteristically bitter and angry; his mother bit her lip.

"He...He didn't...he's very worried about you." His mother told him. Blaine saw through the lie easily, but hoped that no one else in the room did. He made eye contact with his mother, trying to tell her without words that they could discuss it later when they were alone, or perhaps never at all.

Burt and Carole were steadfastly trying to look like they couldn't hear them, as were Will and Emma. Finn hadn't moved in the slightest, still staring blankly at the floor; it was entirely possible that he couldn't hear them at all anyways. Kurt, however, made no attempt to mask his confusion, but, thankfully, did not ask any questions.

"Are you okay, Mom?" Blaine asked after a beat. His mother did not laugh the sad, humourless laugh that Kurt had when he'd asked him, but instead looked bewildered.

"What do you mean, 'am I okay'?" She asked her son. Blaine furrowed his brow, forgetting his mental notes and flinching. Kurt immediately moved, both hands trying to help.

"What's wrong? Why'd you flinch?" Kurt's voice was low and panicky. Blaine rubbed his arm absently to let him know he was okay without having to use words; he was getting kind of tired.

"Yeah, Mom. You look really upset. And tired. You should go back to sleep." Blaine told her after successfully calming Kurt down. Instead of answering, his mother grinned and embraced him again, pulling him to her tightly.

"Haven't changed a bit." she whispered, her voice sounding relieved. "I was worried you might." When she sat back, she shot a glare at Finn, who was still staring at the floor tiles like they held the answers to the mysteries of the universe.

Burt decided it was time to cut in, moving over and standing behind his son. Everyone else followed suit, save for Finn, so Blaine soon had six people hovering over him, looking at him.

"Should we call Mercedes like she asked?" Emma asked, turning to Kurt, not Will. Kurt looked up in surprise at the question being directed towards him and nodded; Emma grabbed her purse, gave Will a kiss on the cheek, and left the room without another word. Blaine must've looked confused, because Will felt the need to explain.

"She's not sure how to handle being here. It's frustrating her." Will looked worried as he said it, so Blaine tried to offer him a comforting smile, noting in the back of his head that smiles hurt, too.

"I can talk to her later." Blaine shifted restlessly. "Thank you all for being here. It really means a lot."

Kurt smiled at him tearfully, his mother just squeezing his hand. Will and Carole offered him smiles of reassurance while Burt snorted.

"Of course we'd be here, kid. You mean the world to Kurt, so you mean the world to me." Burt told him. Blaine couldn't help the grin that split his face. A man had never told him that before, that he cared about Blaine, whether he lived or died without preferring the latter. Blaine's mother recognized this and gave his hand another squeeze.

"Thank you, Mr. Hum-" Blaine began, but Burt immediately cut him off.

"I swear, kid, if you don't start calling me Burt, I'll knock you back into unconsciousness so fast your head will spin." Burt threatened affectionately. Kurt looked shocked, giving his father a dirty look, but Blaine's smile just widened.

"Thanks, Burt." he told him quietly. When everyone was smiling silently, and slightly creepily from Blaine's perspective, he decided it was time to talk to Finn, calling his name gingerly. "Finn?"

Finn's head snapped up to look at the boy laying in the hospital bed. Everyone's heads turned to him and back to Blaine, not knowing what to expect. Kurt's face was flushed in anger, as was Blaine's mother's, but Carole was biting her lip. Will and Burt appeared surprised that Blaine had addressed Finn at all.

"Finn, I don't blame you." Blaine had planned to say more, but everyone started talking at once.

"How could you forgive him, Blaine? You didn't see it happen, you didn't-" "Do you know what it's like to lose your son, Blaine? He took you away from me-" "Thank you, Blaine, thank you so much-"

Blaine shut his eyes against the noise that was threatening to make his head explode from the pain of the volume and confusion.

"Stop!" he shouted, and everyone's voices fell away at once. He reopened his eyes, ignoring all the looks people were giving him and just making eye contact with Finn.

"Finn, I don't blame you." Blaine repeated, looking around for a brief moment as though daring everyone else to interrupt. When no one did, he continued. "You thought I'd hurt your brother on purpose. Anyone would've reacted the same way. Granted, I would've appreciate it if you'd listened when Kurt told you it was an accident, but I understand you might've thought he was lying to protect me." Blaine paused for a moment to take a couple of deep breaths; this speech was taking a lot out of his tired body. "If I had learned someone hurt Kurt, and that someone was standing right in front of me, I would've just taken them down too. I wouldn't've listened to any reason, I would've just wanted them to know that they'd done something unforgivable. So, no, I don't blame you. And, if it makes you feel better, I forgive you, though I really don't think there's anything to forgive."

The room was completely silent when Blaine stopped talking; Kurt and Carole both had tears falling down their face, but nobody spoke. It was a bit of a surprise when Finn spoke first.

"You're right. I thought he was lying, and I wanted to protect him. He's my brother, it's my job. I am sorry for hurting you, though, now that I've heard the whole story. But, no, at the time...it wasn't the wrong thing to do at all, and if you ever do hurt him on purpose, I'll do it again in a heartbeat. And probably a lot worse." Finn told him. There was a beat of tense silence before Blaine's face broke into a grin at the same time Finn's did. Blaine raised one of his hands out, and Finn stood, moving over to shake hands with Blaine.

Kurt smiled at the two, glad that all seemed right again.


	5. Never Thought I'd Be Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine almost doesn't make it in time for the birth of his first child. Almost.

Blaine, though it wasn't his favorite thing in the world to do, worked as a performing waiter at Johnny Rockets on Third Avenue; he was just using the job as a placeholder while he tried to move up the ladder on Broadway. He'd landed a few roles as extras, but his talents were starting to be relatively recognized and he was moving up, but he still had to have some source of income with the baby on the way. It was while he was at this job that he got the call.

His phone had been vibrating in his pocket for at least seven minutes straight now, so he told a fellow waiter that he'd be right back and escaped to the bathroom to check his phone. He found that he had sixteen missed calls from Kurt, and his heart immediately started beating much faster. He tried to call Kurt back, but got a busy signal as Kurt tried to call him at the same time. He hung up and waited for Kurt to call again; this time, he picked it up on the first ring.

"What's wrong?" Blaine demanded as soon as the phone was at his ear. "Are you okay? Is Rachel okay? Is the baby okay? What's going on-"

"Rachel went into earlier labor. You need to get down to the hospital right now, as soon as you can. The same one she has her checkups at. I don't have time to give you directions, do you know where you're going?" Kurt sounded rushed and panicky, and Blaine recognized that he sounded like he had a headache. It wasn't hard to pinpoint the source of the headache as he heard Rachel shouting in an unnaturally high voice in the background.

"Y-Yeah, I know where I'm going. I'll be right down." Blaine was about to hang up, but Kurt stopped him, telling him that Rachel wanted to talk to him real quick. Blaine heard a shuffling static noise as the phone passed shaking hands, and soon Rachel was screaming in his ear. He pulled the phone away from his ear quickly, smiling with embarrassment at a man who quickly washed his hands and left.

" _You_ did this to me, Blaine  _fucking_ Anderson!" Rachel shrieked. Blaine flinched. "You get your  _ass_ down here and get your fucking kid because I am doing this  _for you_  and your idiot husband and then there's his idiot brother who let me go through with this  _whole fucking thing_ and I  _hate you all_!"

The phone was quickly confiscated from Rachel, and Finn's rumbling voice came through the speaker; Blaine felt comfortable enough to bring the phone back somewhere near his head.

"Sorry about that, man. She's not a happy camper right now, but she'll be so happy when it's over. If I were you though, I'd get down here as fast as I could." Finn chuckled, and Rachel screamed bloody murder at him. "I'll be in the waiting room to bring you to her room when you get here."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Give everyone my love." Blaine had left the bathroom and was attempting to flag down his boss as he hung up and shoved his phone back into his pocket. It was then that Blaine realized he was going to be in uniform when his baby was born, paper hat, bow tie, apron and all. He also realized that he really didn't care as long as he got to see his baby born.

Blaine found his boss then and quickly explained the situation to her; luckily, she grinned at him and told him to go, saying that even if nobody picked up his shifts, she would do it herself just so he could be there. Blaine thanked her profusely, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and flew out the back door to the parking lot. He fumbled in his pocket for the keys to his old car and took at least a minute longer than usual to get in the car with his shaking hands. He was getting frustrated as he fought his way into the car, starting to drive as he simultaneously shut the door and buckled his seat belt in.

Blaine was sure that, had someone been watching or keeping track, he would've won an award for the record amount of time driven from a Johnny Rockets to a hospital. He wondered vaguely if there was ever a category like that as he pulled into the hospital parking lot as carefully as he could and parked his car. He barely remembered to lock the car as he flew out of it, slamming the door behind him and hurrying into the emergency room. Finn stood as soon as he saw Blaine rush in, laughing at the panicked, disheveled man.

"Catch you at work, did we? Did you have to time travel from the fifties to get here?" Finn couldn't help but crack a joke at Blaine's comical appearance; Blaine laughed.

"Never heard that one before." Blaine seemed to be bouncing up and down; when Finn looked down at his feet, he realized he was. "Can we go in? Will they let me?"

"You're the father, man. I'm just the husband." Finn was still grinning widely; a couple people around them looked up with confusion, but they were ignored.

"Let's go, come on, let's go in." Blaine grabbed Finn by the forearm and hurried down a hallway, a nurse nodding at them as she recognized Finn. Finn allowed himself to be led for a moment before realizing Blaine had no idea where they were going.

"Blaine, man, I know you're excited - I mean, anyone could tell, you're basically skipping down this hallway - but it's the wrong hallway. Follow me." Finn instructed, and Blaine nodded, his head vigorously moving up and down like a bobble-head on acid. Finn led Blaine back the way they came and down a different hallway, the curly-haired man trailing at his heels like a puppy. Blaine could tell when they were close, since Rachel's screaming was the loudest noise in the entire ward. Blaine hurried ahead of Finn, but Finn grabbed his arms and directed him to a cart loaded down with scrubs for people to take before entering the rooms. Blaine stuffed his hat in the pocket of his apron and tugged the scrubs on as quickly as he could, snapping on the cap and mask like he couldn't do it fast enough. Finn tried to fold himself into the clothes, going much too slowly for Blaine's liking as Blaine finished fitting them on himself and helped Finn shoved his limbs and head into the scrubs and tugging him into the room.

A very tired-looking Kurt looked up as the two entered the room; he had been clutching Rachel's hand and saying something to her, but he broke into a breathless smile as soon as he laid eyes on his husband. Blaine crossed over and pulled his mask down, pressing a kiss to his husband's cheek before yanking it back up and kneeling down to speak to Rachel. Kurt stepped back, more than happy to let Blaine take over with his boundless enthusiasm and never-ending comfort. Kurt backed up until he was standing beside his brother.

"Never thought you'd be here, did you?" Finn asked softly as the two watched Blaine trying to calm down Rachel; to both their surprise, it was working, and the sweaty woman was quiet and watching Blaine speak with intense eyes. "About to have a baby, man. It's insane."

"Thanks for letting us borrow your wife." Kurt joked, keeping his eyes on the scene in front of him. "I hope...Do you think she'll..." Kurt was unable to voice the fear that he'd been holding onto since Finn and Rachel had offered to do this. Finn looked down at Kurt, who felt his brother's eyes on him and tore his own glasz eyes away from the scene to meet them.

"She wouldn't keep the baby. You should see her when you're not around, she's so excited to give this to you." Finn reassured him. Kurt visibly relaxed, his shoulders drooping slightly, his lips turning up in a smile. "She knows we can't have our own kids right now, not while we're so busy, but you two are the perfect parents. She wants her career so badly, but you guys...Blaine would give up anything just to be home with this kid."

Kurt knew he could've felt offended that Finn didn't say that he, Kurt, would've done the same, but he didn't feel offended at all. He knew that he was very involved in his career, and they both knew that he'd quit his job to stay home if he had to. But they also both knew that Blaine would give up his job willingly and never regret it if he had to stay at home with this baby. That's just the kind of a man he was, and Kurt loved him absolutely for it. Kurt just nodded, turning back to the scene in front of him. Blaine had one of Rachel's hands between his two.

"He really would." Kurt agreed quietly. Finn wrapped an arm around his short brother's shoulders, pulling him close to his side for a moment before letting him go. "And, to answer your earlier question, no."

"No?" Finn asked, confused, not remembering his earlier question. The two of them watched as Blaine dug his paper hat out of his apron pocket and stuck it on Rachel's head just to make her laugh as she sobbed. A smile fell onto both of their faces, and Kurt answered.

"No, I never thought I'd be here." Kurt told him at the same time that a team of a doctor and three nurses came in the room, checking Rachel's vitals on the machines and announcing that she was ready to have their baby.

Kurt would later tell his daughter that she looked disgusting when she was born, covered in "blood and guts", as he called it, but the truth was that he'd never seen anything more beautiful as he laid eyes on his daughter for the first time. He fell in love with her instantly, and with one look at Blaine's awestruck face knew that his husband had, too.

Kurt, at first, was confused at the blue eyes of his daughter, since Rachel and Blaine both had dark eyes, but later remembered that most babies were born with blue eyes. To Blaine's complete and utter delight, by her eighth month of life, her eye color had stabilized and were the same color as Kurt's, the beautiful glasz that he loved so much. It puzzled Kurt and everyone else to no end, but Blaine just told them that she had known her other father's eye color. Everyone, including Blaine, knew that this wasn't the case, but they let it go as soon as the little girl looked at them with her sparkling eyes.

As soon as Kurt had laid eyes on her, he was stunned by the sheer amount of dark curls on his daughter's head. Though they were wet and pasted to her head with blood, anyone could tell that she had a massive amount of hair for a newborn. This was instantly Kurt's favorite thing about his daughter's appearance, before he'd even seen her eyes or her smile or her adorable little nose. He loved his husband's wild hair on his daughter's tiny head.

They all laid eyes on her for the first time at the exact same time, and everyone in the room fell in love with her as she cried. Rachel felt a tug of love and loss as Blaine was the first person to hold her, getting blood all over himself but not caring, getting the doctor's okay to pull his mask down and press his lips to her damp, wrinkled, and small forehead, her curls plastered over it. Kurt came over to the two, laughing as he pushed her hair very gingerly away from her eyes.

Finn stood beside his wife quietly, holding her hand as she sobbed tears were full of happiness and sorrow. After giving Kurt a turn holding the tiny child, Blaine gave the baby to Rachel. Rachel hugged her daughter quickly before handing her over to Finn. Finn just smiled at the tiny, squirming thing before giving her back to the doctors to clean, measure, and footprint. Blaine and Kurt each gave Rachel a kiss before kissing each other with absolute pure joy; Finn gave his wife a kiss and adjusted the paper hat on her head, which had fallen askew and was hanging off of her ear.

"And what name are we putting on the birth certificate?" A nurse asked, pen ready. Blaine grinned from ear to ear, and Kurt nodded to let him know he could announce the name that they'd chosen.

"Elizabeth Kristina Anderson." Blaine announced. Kurt's eyes welled up at the first name, his mother's name given to this beautiful child, his beautiful child. The nurse wrote it down, Kurt wandering over to spell it for her, and one of the other nurses gave Elizabeth back to Blaine. Blaine held his clean daughter close, pressing his lips to her forehead once again.


	6. And A Happy New Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine remembers one of their first Christmases before being woken into the present Christmas.

If Blaine was being totally honest, he was beyond excited when Artie asked him and Kurt to act like they were married and hosting dinner at their house for the Christmas special. Kurt had looked at him curiously, as though asking if Blaine was okay with this, if Blaine wanted to do this.

Blaine could feel the burn of his Christmas gift for Kurt in his pocket, screaming to be brought out then. But, no, not yet. So Blaine simply nodded and smiled his approval, mustering all of his seventeen years of cumulated acting ability into not exploding.

* * *

Blaine was adjusting the Christmas tree bow tie that they had given him - both that and the kapri pants were legitimate presents, and he's not ashamed to actually wear them - when Kurt snagged him and told them that they were leaving right then to go down to the shelter.

Blaine grinned; it was what he wanted to do all along, but he hadn't wanted to abandon Kurt. He also selfishly did not want to leave this picture-perfect little TV world, where he and Kurt were married and happy. He didn't want that to disappear before it had to.

Blaine hummed "Let It Snow" as he allowed himself to be dragged down the hallway by his wrist by Kurt, both of them still in their tuxedos. Suddenly, he remembered that he was yet to give Kurt his present; even though he'd see Kurt on Christmas, he was suddenly possessed by this intense desire to give Kurt his gift just then.

Blaine dragged his heels, making Kurt stop. Kurt looked back in confusion, his forehead crinkling.

"We really have to go, what're you-" Kurt ceased tugging on Blaine's arm when Blaine pulled the small box out of his pocket with his free hand. Kurt immediately dropped his boyfriend's wrist.

"It's not time to exchange gifts yet. We're doing that on Christmas." Kurt's voice was soft and shaky, his eyes glued to the box in front of him with strong curiosity and a bit of foreknowledge; he felt that he absolutely did know what was in that box.

"I know, I just really felt like I had to give this to you right now." Blaine stole a quick glance around; lockers and advertising posters didn't make the most romantic environment. "I suppose I just couldn't wait anymore."

Kurt looked up at Blaine then, his glasz eyes swimming in happy tears. "I love you."

Blaine grinned, picking up Kurt's hand and pressing the box into it. "You haven't even opened it yet."

"That doesn't mean I don't love you." Kurt countered, his focus returning to the box. He gripped the lid tightly and pushed it open in one quick, fluid movement. Blaine felt like the whole entire world held it's breath for a heartbeat. Kurt fell completely silent.

Blaine would never forgot those long, laboriously slow moments as Kurt reached into the box, pulling out the gift and looking up at Blaine with shining eyes.

* * *

"Papa!" A high voice was shouting somewhere very close to Blaine's head. "Papa, it's Christmas morning, but Daddy won't let us go downstairs!"

Blaine sat up in bed, rubbing at his face. "Well, Johnny, it's probably for a very good reason. We can all go down together, hm? You can go with your sisters."

The three-year-old climbed into his fathers' bed, crawling across the blankets until he was tucked warmly into Blaine's side under the comforter.

"Cas said she was going to brush her teeth and then she'd wake up Merla and Lizzie." John reported, yawning and leaning heavily into Blaine's side, face buried in the Christmas sweater Blaine had worn to bed. John's hair was a mop of messy dark curls, just like his father's was. Kurt often said they were twins, and he wasn't exactly wrong; they looked a lot alike, and John had inherited Blaine's personality just as much as Merla had inherited Kurt's.

"I'll sure they'll be here any minute." Blaine assured his young son. As if on cue, Cas popped her head in, light brown hair long and tangled. Her glasz eyes were wide with excitement that she was containing quite well for a six-year-old.

"Can we come in, Papa?" Cas asked in her soft voice.

"Of course you can, come get in bed over here!" Blaine exclaimed, opening his arms wide. "Daddy'll let us downstairs soon, hm?"

Cas grinned widely, pushing the door open all the way and quickly making her way to the bed, climbing in as her brother had. Merla followed close behind, looking disgruntled.

"Papa, you know I need so many hours of sleep or I'll look terrible." Merla was forever exasperated by Blaine's apparent lack of understanding in fashion or whatever she was talking about these days. Blaine offered her an apologetic frown.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Blaine tousled her hair when she got close enough on the bed, further messing up the half of her brown hair that, in the night, had fallen out of the long braid going down her back. Her brown eyes showed that she really didn't mind; she was still a nine-year-old, and it was still Christmas.

Blaine looked up from his children cuddling into him to see his eldest child hanging back, uncertain of whether or not she was too old to do the same as her siblings were. As an eleven-year-old, she  _was_  pretty grown-up and shouldn't be cuddling with her father and little immature siblings in bed. Her hair, similar to Blaine's and John's, was a dark mess of soft curls, her glasz eyes torn between what to do. Blaine waved her over; she came to the side of the bed, beside her father.

"Come on, it's Christmas. A time of family and immaturity." Blaine was stage-whispering; he also knew by his daughter's eyes that he didn't need to try very hard to coax her. "We promise not to tell."

A chorus of agreements came from her three siblings; she smiled widely and climbed into the bed, hugging herself to her father tightly. Blaine looked at the four children, eagerly discussing what they got Kurt for Christmas, and remembered his dream, the memory from years ago.

He hadn't known then that that decision would've led to this, to his and Kurt's wedding, moving to New York, having a small litter of children. But he was extremely excited that it had.

Kurt's voice flew up the stairs then, telling Blaine and the kids that it was time for them to come downstairs. Elizabeth, Merla, and Cas all threw themselves out of the bed and out the door; Blaine carried John, who was bouncing in his arms with excitement.

He dragged the kids in some sort of order downstairs, setting John down at the foot of the steps and getting greeted with a kiss from Kurt.

"Merry Christmas, Blaine." Kurt gave him a little square present, like the gift Blaine had given him all those years ago.

"Merry Christmas, darling." Blaine grinned widely at him. "And a happy new year."


	7. Under the Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine works at Disney World, much to his daughter's delight.

"Can you see him up there?" Kurt asked his young daughter, lifting her up onto his shoulders. "See Daddy?"

The three-year-old, Elizabeth, clung tightly to her father's hair with one hand so she could wave at the stage. Her blue dress was one Blaine had been able to get her cheaper with his employee discount; she decided that her favorite princess was Ariel. She looked nothing like her, with her pale skin with a tint of olive, glasz eyes, and curls of black hair, but insisted that Ariel was the best. Blaine just had to agree.

Blaine, who was the Magic Kingdom's Eric five days a week, grinned at his daughter as she saved and came to the edge of the stage in front of her. Kurt held up the tiny girl, who allowed Blaine to take her up into his arms on the stage.

Elizabeth's wide eyes were even wider as she took in the chaos around her, actors and actresses twirling around her in the show. The actress, Mitzy, who played Ariel, transferred her crown onto Elizabeth's head. Elizabeth smiled at her and waved, holding onto Blaine's costume collar with her other hand.

"Hey, Lizzie." Mitzy adjusted the crown on Elizabeth's head and leaned down slightly to meet Elizabeth's eye level. "You get to be the princess today, how's that sound?"

"Good." Elizabeth answered, turning her head shyly to press into Blaine's shoulder. Blaine laughed and kissed Mitzy on the cheek before throwing himself back into the dance, twirling his daughter around in his arms. Kurt watched happily, the stage lit in the darkness of night, illuminating all the performers and the faces of everyone in the audience. Before long, the fireworks were the light that was illuminating everybody, and the small family looked on as the colors exploded in the sky.


	8. Blaine Knew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine finds out about something horrible. He knows what he's doing is wrong - Cooper told him so - but he can't help it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, watch out. This chapter could be TRIGGERING. There is self-harm in here. It's not graphic, but it is strongly present, though the ending is ambiguous/open-ended. PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

Blaine knew it.

He had known it all along. He had just expected it to take until Kurt actually got to New York for it to happen. Maybe that's why it hurt more than he was expecting. Or, maybe it would always hurt this much, and he just hadn't realized.

Still, he may have known that Kurt would eventually give up on him and realize he could move on to something bigger and better, so much better, like Kurt deserved, but he didn't know the crippling pain he would get from knowing it. He wished that Kurt had waited and broken up with him first.

Blaine sat on the edge of the bed, spine stiff, staring at Kurt's phone as it vibrated violently on the nightstand. He sighed and picked it up, his heart wrenching and feeling like it was squeezing itself. There was a grim twist in his stomach, like it had knotted itself. Blaine shut his eyes, willing back the feeling of nausea before sliding his eyes back open to read the messages.

The first one he read made his eyes brim to the very edge with tears. He let them fall shut again heavily and pressed his free hand against his mouth, holding back the sobs that would likely bring Kurt back immediately once he heard. Or maybe they wouldn't, and this was Kurt's plan, to let Blaine find out for himself and break up their relationship for him. He took a deep, shaking breath and started reading again. The door creaked open and Kurt announced his arrival with a platter, and Blaine just couldn't take it anymore.

* * *

Blaine knew that this was the wrong thing to do.

He knew it, and Cooper had drilled it into his head that it was the wrong thing to do when he found out about it the first time. Kurt had drilled it into his head that it was the wrong thing to do when he found the angry, nearly-invisible pink scars that lined Blaine's arms. Blaine knew this was the worst option, the worst way out.

But it just _felt_  like the best way to handle his situation, the best control he had. And he knew he'd need a way of coping if... when Kurt forgot about him. Blaine was nothing if he wasn't prepared. He sat down in his bathtub, water shaking at the edges, hands strangely steady, took a deep breath through his nose, and raised his blade.


	9. Good Evening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt catches a glimpse of Blaine playing with their daughter.

Kurt's entire plan to come home and just complain to his husband flew out the window when he got to the kitchen. He dropped his bag into one of the wooden chairs and looked out the kitchen window into the backyard briefly to check and see if Blaine was home, and home he was.

Blaine and their daughter, Elizabeth, were sitting on the grass quietly, Blaine lifting her up every now and then before letting her fall back down. The fifteen-month-old squealed happily every time he did it.

Kurt leaned against the sink, watching them contentedly. After a few minutes of their game, Blaine hurled himself back on the grass, stretching out on his back. Kurt noticed he had left his hair wild that day, dark curls pressing into the grass. He had what used to be a bow tie but was now just in it's original ribbon form around his neck, his dark blue button-up shirt that he got at Wal-Mart about a week earlier - much to Kurt's dismay - was slightly unbuttoned, from the top and from the bottom, his plain jeans were rolled up to his knees, and his socks and shoes had long been discarded at the side of the house. Kurt found this strangely endearing as their daughter, clad in a dark blue dress - he wondered briefly if Blaine coordinated them or it just happened by mistake, since it usually just ended up by mistake whenever Blaine dressed her - made her way over to him, stumbling up beside him. She flung herself down beside him, laying on her back, as well, mimicking the way Blaine was laying down.

Elizabeth gave up laying on the grass after a minute or so and scooted across the grass, climbing onto Blaine's chest. She stretched on her stomach before curling up on his chest, falling asleep with her face buried in the hollow beneath his throat. Blaine stroked her dark curls and yawned, draping his free arm across her body protectively. Kurt hurried outside before Blaine could fall asleep, because Kurt knew from experience that he couldn't manage to get Blaine inside.

"Hey, baby." Kurt whispered, leaning over Blaine and Elizabeth. Blaine's eyes blinked back open, and he grinned blearily.

"Good evening." Blaine said softly, shuffling and rubbing at one of his eyes. Kurt smiled.

"You look like you're a little kid." Kurt bent down and picked up Elizabeth; she stayed asleep, pressing her face into Kurt's chest instead. Blaine heaved himself up off the ground and stretched out his limbs.

"Love you, too." Blaine laughed, scratching at the stubble on his cheek. Kurt ran his hand over the scruff and laughed with him.

"You're short, I can't help that." Kurt pressed a kiss to his husband's lips. "Ready for dinner?"

"Ready for bed. Not hungry." Blaine took Elizabeth and held her tightly in one arm.

"Well, I'll be joining you, then. I'll bring sandwiches." Kurt offered, and Blaine's eyes lit up.

"Dinner in bed? Awesome!" Blaine rushed inside ahead of Kurt to put Elizabeth in bed, and Kurt just laughed, following his two little kids into the house.

**Author's Note:**

> You can follow me on Twitter at [@nicoIodeon](https://twitter.com/nicoIodeon) or on Tumblr at [andillwriteyouatragedy](http://andillwriteyouatragedy.tumblr.com/).


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